Make the Port Jervis Line a Priority

Big things are happening for Orange County on the transportation front! You’ve already read about our efforts to improve and expand Route17/86, but that’s just half the story. Our priorities always include improving mass transit options for our residents and businesses and so we’re turning our attention once again to Metro North.

Metro North recently completed a study focusing on infrastructure improvements on the Port Jervis line to increase service. What are these improvements you ask?

-The MTA would construct three passing sidings to:
– increase the weekday train service from 27 to 44 trains per day
(69% increase) and
– increase the weekend train service from 16 per day to 26 (38% increase).
-A Mid-Point Yard would also be constructed for overnight storage, servicing, and fueling.

The construction of these three passing sidings would cost significantly less than adding 20 miles of a dual rail line to the system, which currently consists of a single rail line.

Our goal: make the Port Jervis Line improvements a priority to the MTA Board of Directors so that they put into the next MTA Capital Budget to make this important infrastructure improvement a reality.

We need your support! If we come together as a community and show just how essential these improvements are to sustain quality of life and help to grow our local economy, we can get the PJ Line written into the Capital Budget. So, talk to your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers and write to your elected officials about better train service for all of us. Need help with getting the word out? Let us know – we have the tools you need to help us advocate for change in our community!